So why is Tenacious D’s The Pick of Destiny on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
TThe Pick of Destiny is one of those rare cases where the movie soundtrack – which doubles as an insanely great Tenacious D album proper – is arguably a better overall experience versus the movie it’s associated with.
Don’t get me wrong, The Pick of Destiny the movie is quite good – very good in fact. It’s just that The Pick of Destiny soundtrack is that good as a musical showcase, if you can dig. And what’s really fun too is that the progression of the album works well enough as a narrative from a (hilarious) rock opera of sorts standpoint.
But let’s take a step back here: I’m a massive fan of The D, the acoustic-metal project spearheaded* by actor and musical wunderkind Jack Black a.k.a. Jables and his equal in musical wunderkind-ery Kyle Gass a.k.a. KG a.k.a. Rage Kage.
* Also see The Best 100 TV Shows Ever, where Tenacious D the TV show is honored with its very own slot.
“Kickapoo” is a classic Tenacious D acoustic rocker that fleshes out the backstory of how Jables grew up. Then things punch up a notch and none other than Meatloaf – who plays Black’s religious uptight father in the film – takes a verse, meshing perfectly into the world of The D.
You’d better shut your mouth, better watch your tone
You’re grounded for a week with no telephone
Don’t let me hear you cry, don’t let me hear you moan
You gotta praise The Lord when you’re in my home
“Classico,” modeled off of the sublime classical guitar melody that KG lays down, is a Jack Black masterclass as performer and entertainer. Just delightful.
“Master Exploder” is the magical perfect storm when a song is super kick-ass and super funny at exactly the same time.
My voice is fucking POWERFUL
“Papagenu (He’s My Sassafrass)” is a weirdo trippy delight and somehow manages to be insanely catchy at the same time. Also: the related scene in the movie produced its single biggest laugh in my book (if you know, you know).
The five and a half minute long “Beelzebub (The Final Showdown)” – pulled from the culmination of The Pick of Destiny the movie – is a mini-hard rock opera with a full-blown story and journey that we’re taken on.
And it’s also a masterpiece.
JB and Rage Kage face off against the devil himself, and only by winning a “rock off” against El Diablo can save the boys’ souls (well, just Kage’s is on the line, somehow… “it’s the only way!” Jables assures him).
And then on the plus side, if the boys win, the devil will throw in paying their rent. So, sweet bonus on deck there.
Dave Grohl plays Beelzebub, and it’s an all timer performance.
I’m the devil, I love metal
Check this riff, it’s fucking tasty
I’m the devil, I can do what I want
Whatever I’ve got I’m gonna flaunt
There’s never been a rock-off that I’ve ever lost
It’s the rare song that gets better and better as it goes along. The section where the fellas need to rally against the might of Beelzebub’s metal prowess is one of my favorite things to revisit over and over again.
Hey Antichrister, Beelzeboss
We know your weakness, our rocket sauce
We rock the Casbah and blow your mind
We will defeat you for all mankind
You hold the scepter
We hold the key
You are the devil
We are the D!
It’s absolutely glorious – funny and rousing and rocking and wildly entertaining.
Love live The D.
Some stats & info about Tenacious D – The Pick of Destiny
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Hard Rock, Movie Soundtracks, Comedy Rock, Heavy Metal
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was The Pick of Destiny released? 2006
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #136 out of 1,000
Tenacious D’s The Pick of Destiny on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Tenacious D’s The Pick of Destiny that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
We rock the Casbah and blow your mind, we will defeat you for all mankind.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.